Yuyan Han

PhD, Texas A&M University, 2014.
Area of Study: Medical Science

MS, Tongji University, 2010.
Area of Study: Biomedical Engineering

BS, Tongji University, 2007.
Area of Study: Biotechnology

Associate Professor, University of Northern Colorado
(2024-present)

Assistant Professor, University of Northern Colorado
(2018-2023)

Postdoctoral Fellow, MD Anderson Cancer Center
(2015-2018)

Efficacy of CBG intervention to reduce NASH progression

Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease  (MASLD) is one of the leading causes of chronic liver disease that can progress into a more advanced form- Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatohepatitis  (MASH) featuring inflammation and fibrosis.Non-psychoactive cannabinoids cannabidiol (CBD) and cannabigerol (CBG) has shown anti-inflammatory effect in other diseases, but their therapeutic effect in MASLD/MASH is unknown. The goal of this project is to evaluate the efficacy of CBG with or without CBD intervention to reduce MASLD/MASH.

Areas of Interest:

My research interests are in the areas of Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD), cannabinoids, hepatotoxicity, circadian rhythm, epigenetics and cancer biology.

Recently Selected Publications

• Joly, R., Tasnim, F., Krutsinger, K., Li, Z., Pullen, N., Han, Y. (2025). Cannabigerol Alleviates Liver Damage in Metabolic  Dysfunction-Associated Steatohepatitis Female Mice  via Inhibition of Transforming Growth Factor Beta 1. Nutrients.
• Aljobaily, N., Krutsinger, K., Viereckl, M., Joly, R., Menlove, B., Cone, B., Suppes, A., Han, Y. (2023). Low dose administration of Cannabigerol attenuates inflam-mation and fibrosis associated with methionine/choline deficient diet-induced NASH model via modulation of cannabinoid receptor. Nutrients.

• Viereckl MJ, Krutsinger K, Apawu A, Gu J, Cardona B, Barratt D, Han Y. Cannabidiol and Cannabigerol Inhibit Cholangiocarcinoma Growth In Vitro via Divergent Cell Death Pathways. Biomolecules. 2022 Jun 20;12(6):854. doi: 10.3390/biom12060854. PMID: 35740979; PMCID: PMC9221388.

• Aljobaily, N., Viereckl, M., Hydock, D., Aljobaily, H., Wu, T.-Y., Busekrus, R., Jones, B., Alberson, J., Han, Y. (2020). Creatine Alleviates Doxorubicin Induced Liver Damage by Inhibiting Cellular Senescence, Oxidative-Induced Inflammation and Liver Fibrosis.. DOI: 10.3390/nu13010041

• Han Y, Junfeng Xu, Jeri Kim, Xifeng Wu, Jian Gu; Methylation of subtelomeric repeat D4Z4 in peripheral blood leukocytes is associated with biochemical recurrence in localized prostate cancer patients, Carcinogenesis. 2017 Aug; 38 (8) : 821–826, doi: 10.1093/carcin/bgx064. PMID: 28854562

• Han Y, Meng F, Venter J, Wu N, Wan Y, Standeford H, Francis H, Meininger C, Greene J Jr, Trzeciakowski JP, Ehrlich L, Glaser S, Alpini G. miR-34a-dependent overexpression of Per1 decreases cholangiocarcinoma growth. J Hepatol. 2016 Jun;64(6):1295-304. doi: 10.1016/j.jhep.2016.02.024. Epub 2016 Feb 24. PMID: 26923637